My hiatus ended up being longer than expected... it's been almost a month since my last update. I was at home for 3 weeks, and was supposed to fly to Mérida, Mexico on February 10th... but there were complications, and I arrived a day later to meet the class. We stayed in a lovely hotel for two nights before departing on a van tour of the region on Sunday, February 13th.
But I guess I should start with a more thorough explanation of what I'm doing in Mexico: study abroad. My college was recently ranked #2 in the nation for the number of undergraduates studying abroad, with most of us going more than once. (The school that beat us has mandatory study abroad in order to fulfill graduation requirements.) So after my 3-week stint in Barcelona, I'm now spending about 80 days in southern Mexico in the Yucatan, that little finger peninsula that sticks out into the Gulf of Mexico.
There are 10 students from my school who are part of my group, myself included. Our college bought a house in the center of town (El Centro), where our program director/professor, Núria, and her husband John (whom we affectionately call Don Juan) live and we have classes. Our school has also hired several local professors to teach classes and act as local guides around town.
Part of the backyard at the school/house: pool
poolhouse
patio and garden #2
again, patio and garden #2 (forgot pic of garden #1)
All 10 of us have homestays here in Merida. We will live with a Mexican host family so that we can better learn the language and the culture, as well as have people to explore the city with. The classes offered are Humanities (learning about the culture of the region and the Mayan people), Art History, Anthropology, and varying levels of Spanish. I'm taking the Humanities, Art History, and two Spanish classes--one on Mexican literature and another on Latin American culture in general. I also have an independent study for my French senior seminar, to ensure that I graduate on time.
Because of growing concerns over the safety of Mexico in general and for American students in particular, my school placed us only with upper-middle class families to ensure that we live in safe neighborhoods with full amenities. My host family falls into this category. Our house is two stories, with at least 5 bedrooms, a kitchen, formal dining room, breakfast nook, formal living room, and family room. Each bedroom has its own en suite bathroom and there's a half-bath downstairs for guests. The entire house has marble tile floors, and the upper level has a wraparound balcony with access to the bedrooms.
I have my own room here, and it's very nice. It was formerly the daughters' room (more on the family dynamics later). I have two twin beds, a desk and chair, a vanity, two more chairs for company, three nightstands, and a built in armoire all for me to use! (There's also another armoire and a closet in here.) My bathroom has a toilet and bidet, and a shower/tub with a seat. I have a key to a little drawer that locks (to hold my important stuff), my bedroom itself, and a house key to let myself in and out. All of the furniture in my room are antiques. My room is very well lit and with good ventilation, which is great because the house doesn't have air conditioning!
My host family has been very welcoming. My host mom, Mama Mili, and her husband are retired. (Yesterday was my host dad's birthday, so I'm trying to see if we will throw him some sort of fiesta.) They have 3 grown kids, two daughters and a son. The son is single and lives here at least part time, in a bedroom off the kitchen. I think I've met both daughters, who are married with kids of their own. The oldest daughter has two sons, ages 8 and 11. The youngest daughter just had a little girl 7 months ago.
There's also an older lady who lives here, who (I think) is my host dad's twin sister, but I also think that Mama Mili's aunt may live here as well. (Will attempt to confirm this eventually.) There's a Mayan housekeeper, Linda, who is also Mama Mili's secretary/personal assistant. She's worked for the family for 23 years. Finally, there's a teenaged boy who works around the house doing laundry, setting the table, and other tasks. (He may be Linda's grandson--again, will try to confirm.) As far as I know, Linda and the young man don't live here.
Oh, and if that isn't confusing enough, there are also 2 other students here! They're high school students from California, and their class took a trip to Mérida for 10 days and they all have homestays in pairs or triples. They'll be here until Sunday. They leave for class activities before I'm awake and come home to sleep late in the evening, so I've only met them once so far (last night at dinner). They share the bedroom across the hall.
So, I think that's a good place to leave off for now. I'm going to get ready for an outing with the class and our host moms... we leave at about 4 to meet for 5. Hasta luego!
